Realtor Magazine June July 2019

M A G A Z I N E J U N E / J U LY 2 0 1 9

INSIDE

REALTORS® TACKLE THE TOUGH ISSUES

Hottest Legislative Topics

JEANNE RADSICK REALTORS® protect property rights

See page 6

VALI NEMETZ

Earns MBA at REALTOR® University

SHOOT LIKE A PRO

The Anatomy of Property Photos on the MLS

R E A L T O R S

®

A D V O C A T E

F O R

BAKERSFIELD REALTOR® MAGAZINE

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CONTENTS

2019 OFFICERS

President Athena Collup Miramar International, Mill Rock President-Elect Ronda Newport Watson Realty, ERA Vice President Scott Knoeb Frontier Real Estate Services, Inc. Secretary/Treasurer Wayland Louie RE/MAX Golden Empire Immediate Past President Derek Sprague Mossy Oak Properties Chief Executive Officer Linda Jay, RCE

2019 Directors

Anna Albiar Coldwell Banker Preferred, RLT William Chicas Watson Realty ERA Michele Cooper Karpe Real Estate Center Martha Johnson Keller Williams Realty Bill Mell Miramar International Kym Plivelich Marcom Real Estate Glenn Porter RE/MAX Golden Empire Brian Tuttle Coldwell Banker Preferred, RLT

Bakersfield REALTOR® Magazine

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JEANNE RADSICK REALTORS® come together to protect homeownership

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PRESIDENT TRUMP ADDRESSES REALTORS® Members attend Trump meeting in Washington DC

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CANDACE OWENS SPEAKS AT FUNDRAISER She inspires and excites those in attendance

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KHSD PLANNING FOR MORE HIGH SCHOOLS Growth in enrollment and housing has served as a catalyst for expansion.

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YPN’ERS STORM STATE CAPITOL Meet with legislators and let them know about the policies REALTORS® are either for or against.

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INFORMATION ON THE MLS A picture is worth a thousand words. What are your photos saying about your listings?

22

YPN SOFTBALL TOURNAMENT SNAPSHOTS A day of friendly rivalry and fun. Congratulations to Coldwell Banker Preferred, RLT, our 2019 Softball Tournament champions.

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SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS Meet all eleven recipients and their aspirations

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FLOOD INSURANCE COMPETITION federal banking regulators allowing for broader acceptance of private flood insurance policies.

ON THE COVER US Capitol, Washington DC

Executive Editor - Linda Jay, CEO, RCE Managing Editor - Carol Duran Contributing Articles Editor - Tiffany Waldowski Statistics - Jamey Lyster Graphic Designer - Carol Duran Bakersfield Association of REALTORS® 2300 Bahamas Drive, Bakersfield, CA 93309 P. 661-635-2300 F. 661-635-2317 www.bakersfieldrealtor.com facebook.com/bakersfieldrealtors BAKERSFIELD REALTOR twitter.com/bakorealtors

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MAGAZINE

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REALTORS protect homeownership in Sacramento and Washington, DC… ®

ATHENA COLLUP 2019 PRESIDENT

E

ach Spring California REALTORS® join together at the State Capitol to bring the “REALTOR® Party” message to our legislators.

This year C.A.R. sponsored several bills created to advance the opportunity for affordable housing, ensure the continued protection of private property rights, and protect our ability to remain independent contractors. For example, C.A.R. re-introduced SCA 4 (Galgiani, 2018) Property Tax Basis Portability/ Intergenerational Transfer Reforms. This bill allows senior homeowners to transfer their property tax basis to a new home regardless of location, price, or the number of previous transfers. It also enables senior home owners to leave a multi-level home and move to a single story or live closer to family as they begin to need additional help, while remaining affordable as many are required to live on a fixed income.

These are important issues and the reason 2300 plus REALTORS® showed up to speak to their local legislators on the same day. It’s amazing to see the halls of the Capitol flooded with REALTORS®.

Our new Governor, Gavin Newsome, had his first face-to-face with the REALTOR® Party at our Legislative Day Briefing, While he seemed in agreement with our general message, he did not offer definitive solutions. He did, however, melt a few hearts with his wide smile and perfect teeth.

We thank him for listening and hope we can count on his help in implementing the C.A.R. sponsored bills.

Special thanks to our YPN Committee for gathering a bus full of REALTORS® and Affiliates, many who had never attended Legislative Days and were able to see and experience the influence of 2300 REALTORS® in action.

We had the privilege of enjoying an

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informative working lunch with our Central Valley legislators and friends of the REALTOR® Party, Senator Shannon Grove, Assembly Member Vince Fong, and Assembly Member Rudy Salas. We also took advantage of a great opportunity to begin building a relationship with our new Senator from the Valley, Senator Hurtada. It’s so important to remind our elected representatives that REALTOR® are their constituents and we represent the American Dream of home ownership.

Our Legislative journey does not end here, members. Legislative Day was followed by several days of C.A.R. business meetings. Our C.A.R. Director delegates representing Bakersfield and Region 12, participated in numerous governance committee meetings, making recommendations to the Board of Directors for possible action. We cast our final votes at Saturday morning’s session and headed home ready to sell some houses, meet with clients, and keep our business running.

During the next week we were dry cleaning our suits and getting ready for our NAR Legislative meetings in Washington DC. We had just enough time to catch up with family, meet up with clients, pack up our bags and head out to DC. Legislative Days in our Nation’s Capitol has a different feel from that of our State Legislative Days. Even the ride from the airport is different.

You see monuments built long ago to recognize special leaders for their significant contributions to our nation’s founding and growth. Legislative pioneers willing to put everything they had at risk for freedom and the pursuit of happiness.

Legislative giants with wisdom and critical thinking skills unmatched in the last 250 years who helped create the American Dream.

REALTORS®, 11,000 strong, used the strength of their collective voices to provide important information to our legislators on critical REALTOR® issues! A delegation of REALTORS® from Region 12 led by our own 2020 C.A.R.

LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT

President Jeanne Radsick, had the privilege of spending time with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, to share our current legislative concerns.

We were very excited to have the President of the United States of America speak to us. After many security measures, which were fascinating to see and learn about, President Trump spent over an hour with us and seemed to find a kinship with his fellow REALTORS®. What a great honor for the National Association of REALTORS® to have a sitting President speak to us for the first time since George W. Bush was in office.

The Bakersfield Association of REALTORS® was recognized at a special RCE Leadership Luncheon for 100 years of membership in the National Association of REALTORS®. It was my honor as President, along with Linda Jay, RCE, CEO and Jeanne Radsick, to receive this on behalf of our Association. From there, the three of us attended a very special ceremony to honor an extraordinary group of nine REALTORS® Nationwide who graduated from REALTOR® University with their Masters Degree. Bakersfield REALTOR® Vali Nemetz was one of the nine. It was a proud moment for Vali and her family and we were pleased to share it with her.

It has been such an honor to represent the Bakersfield Association of REALTORS® this month. I ended this legislative season with a walk among the Flags at Riverwalk Park. The 1000 Flag display is always so moving. I am grateful for my freedom and the soldiers who served and gave their lives to secure freedom for all of us.

The well-used phrase still resonates. ‘The freedom we enjoy is not free. Pioneers, visionaries and patriots, some who paid for it with their very life, for over the last 250 years.’

Thank you, patriots, soldiers, and leaders for ensuring our continued freedom…The freedom to worship, the freedom to use our collective voice, and our freedom to help others achieve the American Dream of property ownership.

LETTER FROM THE CEO

LET US NEVER FORGET! LINDA JAY CEO

M

ay 8, 2005… it was my very first day as the new CEO of the Bakersfield Association of

REALTORS®. I was definitely ready and eager to begin this new journey, but at the same time was a bit apprehensive simply because I was stepping into the shoes of a highly accomplished Executive Officer who just entrusted her 50-year legacy with the Association into my care… it was both humbling and a bit intimidating. I was confident of one thing, this was not going to be a typical day at the office! Setting my new

to protect the freedoms we are blessed to enjoy. This is particularly poignant today as

Strengthened by their courage, heartened by their valor, and borne by their memory, let us continue to stand for the ideals for which they lived and died.”

–President Ronald Reagan

we commemorate the 75th Anniversary of the Invasion of Normandy, which took place on June 6, 1944. Saturday Evening Post’s D-Day 75th Anniversary Commemorative Edition quotes, “It was a defining moment in American history and it remains a pillar of our identity”. In my 14 years of attending NAR meetings in DC, I have never neglected the privilege of visiting this and other memorials that remind us of the great price of freedom and democracy.

The world has changed dramatically over the past 14 years. But some things will never change, and in my opinion, should

job jitters aside, I had a very early, important

never change, and that is the respect for the

appointment to keep that morning with my

DC. I will always be deeply grateful to that

newly acquired leadership team.

purpose and ideals upon which our country

extraordinary leadership team who helped

was founded, our gratitude for the freedoms

make my transition into my new role a smooth

we enjoy, and honoring the brave men and

and memorable experience.

women who fought, and in many cases, gave

Despite a blustery spring downpour all the way from Tehachapi to Bakersfield, I made my way directly to Bakersfield Airport with

One of the most moving experiences of

time to spare, connected with my leadership

their very life to protect the rich heritage and

our DC visit, was taking a walk through the

team; President Jim Knapp, Don Cohen, Greg

precious liberty this great nation has provided

then newly-opened World War II Memorial. I

for over 240 years!

Bynum, Jeanne Radsick and Polly Hamm, and

recall walking alongside Jeanne Radsick, each

we were off to immerse ourselves into NAR’s

of us with tear-stained faces, silently making

“Strengthened by their courage, heartened by

mid-year legislative meetings in Washington

our way through the memorial as if even the

their valor, and borne by their memory, let us

DC. I was excited on so many levels, but

slightest sound would deeply dishonor the

continue to stand for the ideals for which they

particularly because I had never been to

incredible price this great generation paid

lived and died.”

As President Ronald Reagan stated,

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PHOTOS COURTESY OF LINDA JAY

The Bakersfield Association of REALTORS® Joins More than 9,000 REALTORS® in Nation’s Capital to Advance Vital Housing and Property Issues On behalf of current and future home and property owners throughout the country, more than 9,000 REALTORS® traveled to Washington, D.C. this past month to advocate important real estate issues during the 2019 REALTOR® Legislative Meetings & Trade Expo.

The Bakersfield Association of REALTORS® delegation joined fellow REALTORS® from across the nation to attend the meetings and visit with regulators and lawmakers on Capitol Hill to discuss the legislative and regulatory environment and its effect on residential

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and commercial real estate. Attending REALTORS® and members of the National Association of REALTORS ® focused on several major issues pertaining to the industry during the legislative-focused meetings. Of utmost importance was the WHO WE R® Campaign, which is an effort that seeks to educate the public and lawmakers on the value that REALTORS® bring to communities, the impact of real estate on the economy and the vital role it plays for consumers, the importance of property ownership in building safe communities accessible to all, and protecting and promoting real estaterelated policies that are vital to expanding homeownership to more Americans.

The program this year did not disappoint.

Our delegation heard from Federal Housing Finance Agency Director, Mark Calabria, at NAR’s Regulatory Issues Forum. The former NAR economist spoke about his vision for the future of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, along with a host of other policy issues in front of him at the FHFA. Specifically, he outlined his priorities for ensuring the GSEs can appropriately move away from conservatorship. We also heard from former Governors Terry McAuliffe and Haley Barbour in a discussion centered around state and local

policies and their impact on regional real estate markets. The Governors focused on how the right policies can help soften affordability and inventory concerns impacting much of the nation.

While in Washington, members from The Bakersfield Association of REALTORS® delegation met with Congressman Kevin McCarthy on Capitol Hill to influence public policy decisions that will directly affect consumers’ ability to own, buy, and sell real estate. Specifically, Jeanne Reddick the Federal Political Coordinator for Congressman McCarthy, asked the Congressman to continue advocating for policies that promote and incentivize home ownership, and for long

Athena Collup takes a snapshot with Korean War Veterand and his son, who are REALTORS® from Florida.

term reauthorization of flood insurance. Most importantly, we explained WHO WE R®.

Through the voice and strength of the REALTOR® Party, we made it clear where we stand on key issues that affect home and property buyers, sellers, and investors right here in Bakersfield.

President Donald Trump addressed a room of nearly 2,000 REALTORS® at the National Association of REALTORS® Legislative Meetings The President highlighted the value of REALTORS® in the housing industry while addressing administration priorities and deregulation efforts that could potentially benefit the real estate market.

“I’m honored to be here with the hardworking men and women who help millions of families live the American Dream – the incredible members of the National Association of REALTORS®,” President Trump said. “Homeownership and what you do as REALTORS® is a part of Americana. You work hard, you love people, you love this country.”

The President touched on a host of other REALTOR® priorities, including association health plans, the Waters of the U.S. rule, opportunity zones and housing finance reform.

He invited NAR member Bob Turner and Nevada Association of REALTORS® CEO Teresa McKee on stage to discuss specific policy efforts, and also highlighted REALTOR® connection and contribution to the overall U.S. economy.

“I’m here today because REALTORS® play a special role in the economy,” President Trump said. “When a young family needs room to grow; when a new job sparks a new adventure in a brand new beautiful city; when parents want to find the right neighborhood and schools for their children, Americans put our trust in you, our great REALTORS®.”

THE ISSUES

That’s Who We R® Campaign REALTORS® are active engaged members

of every community across the nation. For REALTORS®, “That’s Who We R®” is a rallying cry, instilling pride in their everyday actions and all the ways they go above and beyond to improve the lives of their clients, consumers, and their communities.

It’s important that our members of Congress and Senate understand that REALTORS® adhere to a Code of Ethics that is a pledge of honesty, integrity, professionalism, and community service. The REALTOR® Code of Ethics makes REALTORS® advocates in one of the largest transactions you’ll ever make. 70% of REALTORS® volunteer in their communities monthly, contributing on average eight hours per month. 82% of REALTORS® donated on average $1,000 to charities annually. 92% of REALTORS® have a postsecondary education. 68% of REALTORS® are sales agents; and 20% are brokers. The number of women entering the commercial real estate industry has increased 43% over the last 12 years.

How REALTORS® Benefit Consumers and the Economy Real estate remains a critical major driver of the U.S. economy. Buying and selling of real property is the foundation of wealth building for the middle class and a critical link in the flow of goods, services, and income for millions of Americans.

Real estate accounted for one-fifth of the gross domestic product (GDP) in 2018. • The Federal Reserve calculated homeowners’ equity stood at $15.5 trillion in 2018.

Commercial real estate supported 8.3 million American jobs in 2018. Commercial real estate generated $325.9 billion in salaries and wages, which contributed $1.0 trillion to the U.S. GDP. A typical homeowner’s wealth is

estimated to reach $262,500 in 2019.

84% of non-homeowners want to own a home in the future.

What REALTORS® Care About More than 1.3 million REALTORS® advocate every day as small business owners and on behalf of the nation’s 75 million property owners. Below are key issues REALTORS® are following in the 116th Congress.

Flood Insurance: Long-Term Reauthorization, Meaningful Reform Authority for the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) to write insurance expires on May 31, 2019. REALTORS® are working to avoid an NFIP lapse while advocating for a long-term reauthorization including meaningful reforms to strengthen program solvency. Reforms include more accurate flood mapping; aligning insurance rates to risk, providing property risk mitigation resources; and opening the door to private flood insurance. n Qualified Opportunity Zones: The Qualified Opportunity Zone program aims to encourage development and job creation in economically distressed communities through tax incentives for investments into these areas.

REALTORS® support this program and are active with helping the Treasury Department and the Administration make it a success. n Infrastructure: All-encompassing Investments Infrastructure improvements enhance property values by creating livable communities and business districts. Poorly maintained streets, public transit, and traffic congestion in an area impose extra costs throughout the local economy. REALTORS® support infrastructure policies that reflect a broad community vision and a level playing Continued on page 10 BAKERSFIELD REALTOR® MAGAZINE

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RECOGNIZING OUR

2019 PAC CONTRIBUTORS NAR GOLDEN R

HALL OF FAME $

25,000

Lifetime Investor PRESIDENT CIRCLE

Jeanne Radsick

CONTRIBUTORS

of $148 True Cost of Doing Business Abbot, Frank Ablin, Robin Ablin, Todd Acosta, Guillermo Advani, Sanjeev Albiar, Anna Allegranza, Lori Anderson, Mark Anderson, Rhonda Angelini, Alicia Apsit-Incardone, Barbara Ardis, Dan Arellano, Jose Luis Arevalo, Kevin Ashcraft, Becky Ayon, Tony Baeza, Ruben Barnett, Bradley Barnhard, Kristi Bassi, Jatinder Bautista, Christine Bear, Clinton Beaty, Suzi Behill, Megan Belter, Gary Bender, Terri Bennett, Carol Bernal, Saul Bertrand, Michelle Bianco, Nicole Brinsfield, Shanti Brock, Joel Burke, Shay Brandon Bussman, Jeff Canady, Rhonda Cantu, Nelson Caywood, Desiree Ceballos-Gomez, Nestor Ceja, Omar Ceron Castillo, Julio Chalhoub, Habib Bobby Chay-Som, Hannah Clemmer, Mark Clemmer, Melinda Collins, Terri Meyer

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NAR STERLING R

NAR STERLING R

Chartered

Sheri Anthes David Knoeb Bill Redmond Ryan Dobbs

Gail Malouf Theresa Olson Linda Jay

Contreras Sanchez, Aurelia Davis, Kenneth Davis, Paris Dennis, James Digilio, Sue Dominguez, Adrienne Domlao, Juliana Durazo, Felice Enge, Ann Epps, Halie Epps, Pamela Evans, Tanea Figueroa, Rudy Fleming, Lydia Ford, Susan Diane Ford, Thomas Fowler, Nikkie Francis, Jed Frausto Jr, Gary Freedman, Michael Aaron Frith, Sherry Garcia, Jesus Garcia, Ricardo Garcia-Ruiz, Edward Garone, John Garone, John Gay, David Ghuman, Jessie Gill, Perminder Gomez, Manuel Gonzalez Aceves, Jesus Gonzalez, Belen Gonzalez, Ralph Gregorio, Tiffany Haenelt, Joanie Harandi, Suzanne Harlander, Ivan Harlander, Susan Hartje, Richard Hartwig, Vanessa Helm, Carol Hernandez, Miguel Herrera Olea, Elizabeth Hickman, Jeri Holland, Greg Holzman, Roberta Honesto, Carmen Horton, Carlos

BAKERSFIELD REALTORÂŽ MAGAZINE

Houchin, John Hudson, Jessica Huzaibi, Mohamed Jassar, Pritpal Johnson, Martha Johnson, Victoria Joseph, Chase Knoeb, Scott Korman, Kyle Kornbau, Garry Kotsiomitis, Kathy Laborde, Jean E.C. Lahn, Yan Lamb, Linda Lampkin, Roger Lorenzo, Alfredo Louie, Wayland Lynch, Nicole Mackessy, John Magana, Jenny Malkin, Robert Marchand, Tammi Marley-Soto, Megan Martin, Joanne Mathews, Sandra McCaffrey, Georgia McClurg, Pam McCracken, Michael McEwen, James McIntosh, Lisa McNabb, Shawnte Mell, William Miles Towery, Kassy Miller, Judy Montero, Claudia Munoz, LaShay Munson, Dana Murphy, Shelley Neiss, Jason Newport, Ronda Newport, Walt Newton, Joe Nickell, June Oja, Gregory Ojeda, Maria Ortiz, Carlos Patnode, Margaret Patrick, Christian

Perdikis, Angela Peters, Coleen Peyton, Charles Pineda, Juana Plivelich, Kymberly Prieto, Ralph Ramirez, Rodolfo Reece, John Reeves, Willetta Rice, Laura Rider, Kathryn Roberson, Brandon Gene Roberson, Debra Ruelas, Elisabet Ryder, Judy Saed, Fawzi Salinas, Noah Salinas, Wyatt Sanchez, Carlos Sanders, David Sanders, Grant Sandoval, Eunice Saucedo Rostro, Miguel Schaefer, Kim Scheidle, Jennifer Schoell, Kelli Schwebel, Kish Sewell, Nancy Shaffer, Vicki Shanyfelt, Dan Shipp, Robin Singh, Harpreet Singh, Lakhdeep Skow, Heather Slate, Laurie Smith, Robert Sorensen, Jackie Sousa, Holly Sparks, Darrell St. Clair, Frank Stevens, Ryan Tobias, Darlene Tobias, Scott Toews, Dutch Trone, Sherri Tucker Hood, Lisa Tuttle, Brian Urner, Susan

C.A.R. SILVER BEAR Athena Collup Midge Jimerson Derek Sprague

Valverde, Michelle Van Noord, Johannes Vargas, Pablo Vazquez, Victor Velazquez-Meraz, Edgar Walters, Leslie Ward, Teri Wattenbarger, Ellen Webb, Sumer Wells, Cerrena Wells, Dan White, Christy Wilemon, Chyanne Wilkerson, Sammy Windes, Danielle Winkler, Wanda Witwer, Deana Woodbury, William Woods, Jennifer Workman, Tami Wright, Staci Yim, Justin Zaragoza, Manuel Zulfa, Pam

CONTRIBUTORS

Less Than The True Cost of Doing Business Abramovitz, Jose Alsup, Julia Arucan, Lucrecia Bahamon, Cindy Beck, Margarita Beduya, Rhesiric Behill, Carla Belezzuoli, Robbyn Blair, Charles Blanton, Janice Canto, Stephanie Capilla, Belinda Castro, Domingo Chassi, Ronnie Chester, Jessica Ciufo, Sharon Clerou, Kathleen Cofield, Christine Conde, Heidy Cortez, Casie

Cox, Stacy Daigle, Michael Etcheverry, Laura Fisher, Janice Flores, Maria Frayne, Liana Gamboa, Lourie Gault, Stacey Gonzalez, Monica Granheim, Angela Gutierrez, Corina Gutierrez De Bolanos, Norma Hardenbrook, Darcy Hernandez, Angela Hernandez, Anna Hernandez-Abbas, Iliana Ister, Umit Kelesides, Thomas Lau, January LeMay, Rick Longacre, Priyanka Lopez, Asucena Mahan, Libbie Menchaca, Lizzeth Miguez Lazcano, Fernando Monji-Carter, Mechele Moses, Valerie Mowry, Jeff Ochoa, Maria Padilla, Glenda Pandura, Maria Pannu, Bikramjeet Portillo, Ricky Roberts, Tim Rodriguez, Jason Salas, Mario Schuyler, Renee Sidhu, Harpreet Soto, Jesus Steiner, Terrye Stiles, Jennifer Varughese, Thomas White, Diane Wright, Maria Zannelli, Gustavo

2019 LOCAL GOVERNMENT REPRESENTATIVES

CONGRESS

STATE

KEVIN MCCARTHY

SHANNON GROVE

House Majority Leader U.S. Congressman 23rd District Phone: (661) 327-3611 D.C.: (202) 225-2915 www.kevinmccarthy.house.gov

T. J. COX

U.S. Congressman 21st District Phone: (661) 864-7736 D.C.: (202) 225-4695

Senator 16th District Phone: (661) 323-0443 Sacramento: (916) 651-4916

VINCE FONG

Assemblyman 34TH District Phone: (661) 395-2995 Sacramento: (916) 319-2034

COUNTY SUPERVISORS Mick Gleason

David Couch

Zack Scrivner

Leticia Perez

First District Supervisor Phone: (661) 868-3650 Second District Supervisor Phone: (661) 868-3660

Mike Maggard

Third District Supervisor Phone: (661) 868-3670

Fourth District Supervisor Phone: (661) 868-3680 Fifth District Supervisor Phone: (661) 868-3690

RUDY SALAS

Assemblyman 30th District Phone: (661) 335-0302 Sacramento: (916) 319-2032

MELISSA HURTADO

Senator 14th District Phone: (661) 395-2620 Sacramento: (916) 651-4014

CITY REPRESENTATIVES Karen Goh, Mayor

Bob Smith, Vice Mayor

Willie Rivera

Council Member, Ward 4 Office: (661) 326-3767

Andrae Gonzales

Council Member, Ward 5 Office: (661) 326-3767

Ken Weir

Council Member, Ward 6 Office: (661) 834-4943

Office: (661) 326-3770 Council Member, Ward 1 Office: (661) 326-3767 Council Member, Ward 2 Office: (661) 326-3767 Council Member, Ward 3 Office: (661) 326-3767

Bruce Freeman

Jacquie Sullivan

Chris Parlier, Vice Mayor Council Member, Ward 7 Office: (661) 326-3767 BAKERSFIELD REALTOR® MAGAZINE

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(l-r) Snapshot photo of Linda Jay, Athena Collup, Sheri Anthes and Kim Schaefer standing in front of the Washington Monument, Washington DC Continued from page 7

field for both highway and public transit funding. n Technology: Data Privacy & Security Technology has and continues to transform the way consumers buy, sell, rent, and manage homes, while also impacting the way real estate brokerages operate. As technology drives evolution, our approach to data privacy must evolve as well. Effective data privacy legislation must establish uniform standards for businesses and equal protection for consumers, while focusing on transparency and customer choice. n Health Insurance: Expanded Access to Association Health Plans as independent contractors, REALTORS® have long struggled to find and secure affordable health insurance options, with many remaining uninsured.

We strongly support the U.S. Department of Labor’s final rule expanding access to Association Health Plans. This rule has been successful and is supported in many states, providing high quality, lower cost coverage alternatives to many REALTORS® and their families. n Fannie & Freddie Reform: Access to Credit Earlier this year, NAR unveiled a comprehensive vision to reform our nation’s housing finance system and ensure that people in Springfield, Mo. have the same rates and access to mortgage products as those in Springfield, Mass. America’s uniqueness of offering a 30-year fixed rate mortgage ensures affordable mortgage credit for middle income Americans. Government guarantee and oversight of the system stimulates and protects

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BAKERSFIELD REALTOR® MAGAZINE

the flow of private capital to homebuyers. n Federal Taxation: The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act included many changes that affect homeownership and the real estate industry.

As we close the first tax season under the new rules, REALTORS® are working to protect or support the following policies: extending expired Mortgage Debt Cancellation Tax Relief; fixing the marriage penalty on the state and local tax (SALT) deduction cap; and indexing to inflation the $750,000 cap on mortgage interest deduction and the capital gains exclusion on the sale of a principal residence. n Fair Housing: Fair housing is integral to our ability to buy, purchase, lease, and occupy real estate in America, having protected our nation’s essential right to property for more than half a century. Earlier this spring, NAR was pleased to support H.R. 5, the Equality Act, which adds fair housing protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

California Association of REALTORS® Legislative Day in Sacramento Each year thousands of REALTORS® meet in Sacramento to advocate on key issues affecting the real estate industry. Again, this year, 50 members of the Bakersfield Association of REALTORS® and the Young Professionals Network participated in Legislative Day activities in Sacramento and joined thousands of REALTORS® for a day filled with networking, legislative meetings with Senator Shannon Grove, Assembly member Rudy Salas, Senator Melissa Hurtado and Assembly member Vince Fong for discussions of the

hottest issues that are important to the real estate industry.

It is imperative we connect with our lawmakers regularly to ensure they understand the issues that face the real estate industry, markets and their constituents - many of whom are home and property owners.

REALTORS® are on the ground every day fighting for home and property owners in their communities, and we demonstrated we will do the same here in our state’s capital with our elected officials. Supporting homeowners and property owners through smart legislation is so important for families, communities, and the nation’s economy, so we will continue to work with lawmakers to ensure they are protected.

THE ISSUES

SB 50 (Wiener) – SPONSOR Housing Development Incentives C.A.R. is co-SPONSORING SB 50 (Wiener), which seeks to authorize the implementation of transit-rich housing project bonuses for new urban developments. C.A.R. is cosponsoring SB 50 because the bill will help families afford to live within the communities in which they work.

SB 50 encourages the development of midrise, multi-family unit, housing construction with close, walkable access to bus and rail transit (i.e. ½ mile of high-quality transit defined as fixed service with 15-minute intervals during peak transit hours, Monday - Friday.) Residential developments may Continued on page 12

PHOTOS COURTESY OF LINDA JAY

SNAPSHOTS FROM WASHINGTON D.C.

Continued from page 10

only obtain a “height” bonus under SB 50 if they meet local planning, zoning, and design requirements.

Under SB 50, local governments may approve higher-density housing, with reduced or eliminated parking requirement, provided that the site is adjacent to transit or near jobs.

By reducing a local government’s authority to dictate parking requirements, builders will now be allowed to determine the amount of parking necessary to fit the needs of the development.

SB 50 also establishes an affordability contribution scale based on development size. Finally, SB 50 creates more flexibility by permitting local government to approve ordinances that may include in-lieu fees, land dedication, offsite construction, or acquisition and rehabilitation of existing units in order to meet the affordable housing set aside. Why C.A.R. is co-SPONSORING SB 50: n California’s housing shortage has created an affordability crisis. The state has the 49th lowest ratio of housing units per resident and had a rental vacancy rate of 4.4% last year. n And it’s not getting better. Job growth far outpaces housing starts. Rents are rising faster than wages and are making up a greater percentage of a family’s budget. n More housing units MUST be built. Barriers to building housing units include cost. By encouraging the use of density “height” bonuses, builders will be able to develop more cost-efficient units. n SB 50 kills two birds with one stone.

Facilitating the development of more housing near transit, encourages occupants to use more environmentally friendly modes of transportation.

AB 1590 (Rubio) – SPONSOR First-Time

(l-r) Kim Schaefer, Athena Collup, Linda jay and Sheri Anthes Low- and Moderate-Income Homebuyer Tax Credit for Disadvantaged Communities C.A.R. is SPONSORING AB 1590 (Blanca Rubio), which creates a first-time homebuyer tax credit for low- and moderate-income individuals and families purchasing a home in a disadvantaged community. C.A.R. is sponsoring AB 1590 because it will help working families purchasing a home in a disadvantaged community achieve their dream of homeownership.

Existing law identifies disadvantaged communities as areas with, among other things, concentrations of low-income individuals and families facing high housing costs. With the housing crisis worsening, opportunities for first-time homeownership in disadvantaged communities are limited due to increasing costs, especially for California’s working families.

Assembly Bill 1590 allocates $50 million to help first-time homebuyers who: n Have never owned a principal residence; n Earn 120% or less of the area median income; and n Are purchasing a home in a disadvantaged community.

The tax credit created is equal to 3

Local leadership meets with Kevin McCarthy in Washington DC

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percent of the purchase price of the home or $5,000, whichever is less. Why C.A.R. is SPONSORING AB 1590: n AB 1590 will help first-time low- and moderate-income homebuyers cover unanticipated costs associated with homeownership. Purchasing a home can come with many unforeseen expenses, including unanticipated repairs. These unforeseen expenses can often leave working families struggling to maintain homeownership. n AB 1590 will help improve the quality of life in disadvantaged communities.

Homeownership is tied to better educational performance, improved health and lower crime rates in the community in which the home is located. n AB 1590 will increase homeownership rates in disadvantaged communities. In 2018, California’s homeownership rate was 55.2%, the second lowest in the country.

Homeownership is desirable not just for families, but for communities, where for every two homes sold, a new job is created.

SB 329 (Mitchell) – OPPOSE Mandatory Section 8 C.A.R. is OPPOSING SB 329 (Mitchell), which forces ALL residential rental property owners to involuntarily participate in ALL government assistance and housing subsidy programs. This includes forcing ALL rental property owners to involuntarily participate in the voluntary Section 8 housing program by entering into a legally binding contract with a government agency. C.A.R. opposes SB 329 because it forces landlords into contracts whose provisions they may not be able to fulfill.

Under current law, participation by a rental property owner in the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Housing Choice Voucher program, more widely known as Section 8, is VOLUNTARY. Under SB 329, which redefines “source of income” to include Continued on page 30

Homeownerhip Matters

REALTORS® come together to protect our rights to help our consumers buy and sell Real Estate contribution by

JEANNE RADSICK

CENTURY 21 - JORDAN LINK & CO.

REALTORS® are AMAZING! They come together in cooperation, friendship, competition, and support. Equally, they come together to protect our rights to help our consumers buy and sell real estate. Yes, dare I say it, we also protect your income by battling the lawsuits that could hinder the independent contractor status that we have worked under for so many years.

In the first week of May, we visited all our local legislators and spoke to them about the issues facing California when we attended our annual Legislative Days in Sacramento.

Lack of affordable housing, lack of inventory, over-regulation, homelessness, and so many other things that we need to be prepared for.

Without exception, our Legislators agreed that our issues are very pressing, and they will support or oppose them, as needed, based upon our recommendation. We are so grateful for the relationships that we have forged with State Senator Shannon Grove, Assemblyman Vince Fong, Assemblyman Rudy Salas, Assemblyman Devon Mathis, and our new State Senator Melissa Hurtado. Our area is touched by all these legislators, and they all made the effort to meet with us.

Following our meetings in Sacramento, we spent the third week of May attending the NAR Mid-Year Legislative meetings. We were able to meet with Congressman Kevin McCarthy and talk about how homeownership matters. We heard from the new Director of FHFA, Mark Calabria, and we were also addressed by President Donald Trump. Every

2019 C.A.R. President Elect n Director for the National, State

and Local Associations n 2015 Chair of NAR MLS Policy Committee n 2011 Region 12 Chair n 2007 REALTOR® of the year n 2000 Association President n 1998 Salesperson of the year n Licensed Salesperson since 1987 year there is a standing invitation to the President, but most often they are not able to attend. The last time we had a president speak to us, it was George W. Bush, so it’s a pretty big honor. The ballroom was filled to capacity to listen with respect to our President. While we were there, Congress took action on a couple of our bills, including another four-month extension of the National Flood Insurance Program. The reason that it just keeps getting extended is everyone agrees that it needs to be overhauled, but they just have not been able to

PHOTOS COURTESY OF LINDA JAY

Jeanne Radsick attends both C.A.R. and NAR conventions as this year’s 2019 C.A.R President Elect

get to work on it. It is so vital to every part of our country, including Kern County. The other bill (H.R.5) is dealing with Fair Housing, and it now awaits a hearing in the Senate.

I feel so honored to be a representative for all our members and will do my best to work with everyone to better our profession. Be proud, be honest and ethical, and you will all be successful.

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at NAR’s Annual Legislative Meetings in Washington D.C.

contribution by

DAVID KNOEB

FRONTIER REAL ESTATE SERVICES, INC.

This year’s trip to Washington DC was not your normal or typical conference. The National Association of REALTORS® had a surprise for the attendees. On May 14, NAR announced the President of United States of America Donald Trump would be a guest speaker on Friday, May 17, 2019.

Whether you’re a Republican or Democrat, it does not matter, just having the opportunity to hear and see “live and in person” the most powerful leader in our country gave me a sense of pride and honor, as well as creating an extremely humbling experience all at the same time.

The day before the big event, Sheri Anthes and I came up with our game plan to ensure we did not miss out on this amazing opportunity. We arrived at the Marriott Hotel around 9:00 am, thinking we would be right in front of the line.

We were wrong… According to Secret Service personnel who were counting everyone, we were numbers 244 and 245 in line, with more than one thousand people behind us.

The President was not expected to speak until 2:00 pm, so we had a lot of time to meet and have countless conversation with numerous people from all parts of America beforehand.

Dominic from Naples, Florida, Deborah from Blanco, Texas, and Jim & Shelly from Wilkesboro, North Carolina, just to name a few.

At 11:00 am, Secret Service opened the doors and started seating everyone, it was like going thru airport security times ten. While being searched from head to toe, I had to admit seeing the Secret Service dogs working was absolutely amazing. The dogs and their handlers moved

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through the crowds with a sense of pride, enthusiasm, and with no fear. You could tell by the mannerism of the security dogs this was not play time, they had a job to do and knew exactly what had to be done.

Now it was 12:00 noon, Sheri and I finally got through security and we were trying to find the best seats in the house, as close to the stage as possible. We ended up just to the left of the center stage, three rows back. The excitement and energy were definitely present as people from all parts of this remarkable country were having a great time, giving high five’s, telling jokes, and laughing. For a moment I forgot I was at a NAR convention because it felt like I was surrounded by longtime friends and family. It was such a special feeling; I will never forget that moment.

Special thanks to my awesome wife Joanna, who purchased three 2020 President Trump hats.

Everyone kept asking if they could borrow the hats to take pictures. The answer was always YES. At 2:20 pm, the conference room was packed with about 2,200 NAR attendees. Secret Services officers were everywhere. The audience was extremely loud and full of excitement,

anticipating the announcement from our National Association of REALTORS® President, John S. Smaby. As NAR President Smaby announced President Trump, the audience went wild with a thundering ovation, clapping and chanting “USA, USA, USA” repeatedly. The feeling was surreal, the energy from the audience could light up the entire state of California.

As the President of the United States of America was speaking to the audience, you could tell he was going off script constantly. His passion was clear, he really loves real estate, or perhaps the art of the deal. He had the audience eating out the palm of his hands with multiple STANDING ovations and chants of “USA, USA, USA” over and over. He talked about the economy, trade deals with foreign countries, illegal immigration, California high speed rail, Democratic challengers for 2020, and much more.

I was standing about twenty-five to thirty feet away during the whole speech. As I listened to President Trump, it became crystal clear… the person standing at the podium was not your typical politician. He was confidant, sincere, energetic, and funny, yet fearless and determined.

Most of all, however, I realized he is a husband, father, grandfather, a real human being, and an American patriot, who loves our country so much he is willing to sacrifice everything to Make America Great Again!

Special thanks to NAR, C.A.R., Bakersfield Association of REALTORS®, Dominic, Deborah, Jim & Shelly, Sheri Anthes (who is an amazing friend), and my wife, Joanna, who purchased twenty ‘2020 Trump’ hats to take home. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I believe I am a normal man living a normal life, but on this day, because of all of you, it was an EPIC DAY!

hoto: www.www.nar.realtor

President Trump Addresses REALTORS ®

A Night with

Advocacy… it is one of the five core values ingrained in our Associations’ governing documents. Our passion and commitment to uphold REALTOR® principles demands constant monitoring and advocacy to protect our business and ensure real property rights are not compromised. As advocacy advocates, we are instilled with a curiosity and interest in listening to others and thoughtfully considering their message, whether we fully agree or not.

Each year members of our leadership team are invited to attend political forums and events hosting nationally-recognized political speakers who share their passion and experiences on issues that are critically important to their platform.

Several of our Association leaders recently had the privilege of attending a local fundraising event supporting Senator Shannon Grove, with special guest speaker Candace Owens, a young African American conservative activist. Owens’ passionate, articulate and unwavering message of support for President Trump and conservative values has gained her national notoriety during the past few years.

John Houchin serves on our GEMLS Board of Directors and attended Senator Grove’s event on behalf of the Association. Knowing John as a man of great conviction and passion, I asked him to share his key takeaways from Ms. Owens’ message.

John was moved and energized by her personal story, which revealed a great deal of how her life’s journey has influenced and shaped her beliefs and opinions. Owens’ grandfather was a man of deep Christian faith and had a profound influence on her during her adolescence. He helped her grow in her faith, which provided her with a foundation that would be solidified and become increasingly stronger as an adult. He was also a man who had political views, which he also shared with his granddaughter, predisposing her

to certain political ideas and beliefs. However, it wasn’t until she reached adulthood that her foundational faith caused her to begin questioning some of the political views she had developed as a young person.

As a college student, Owens began questioning some of the ideals her professors were espousing, biased ideals that were not aligning with her faith. She began researching the curriculum and lectures being taught to students and was disturbed to learn that the education system was inappropriately trying to indoctrinate students to a very biased political way of thinking rather than provide them with facts, allowing them to develop their own opinions. This led her to look carefully at the policies and platforms of the two major political parties to compare and contrast their stated values. It was during this research, she discovered the political ideas and beliefs she learned as a child, no longer aligned with the precepts of her foundational faith and life values as she understands them today. This happened to be the same time Presidential Candidate Donald Trump was speaking to Americans across the Country about returning to our Nation’s original conservative values. The more she heard, the more she realized that those conservative values were, in fact, her values as well.

Photo: www.everipedia.org

Candace Owens

It was then she felt the strong need to share her journey and findings with others. Today she advocates for conservative values and strives to inspire and encourage others to not blindly trust and accept the ideals of individuals just because they are in a position of influence, but shares the importance of each person doing their own research to understand the truth and develop their own opinions.

“It is encouraging to see young people energized by individuals like Candace Owens, who are not willing to compromise their strongly held beliefs and life values, even though they are often met with vitriolic opposition and sometimes even violence. Her message of conviction is fantastic, no matter what your political views”. – John Houchin JOHN’S TAKEAWAY… n It’s ok to question, not for the sake of argument, but to understand – Don’t blindly trust and accept the ideals of individuals just because they are in a position of influence. n We each have our life’s journey. Even if your political views are not in agreement with that of another, treat them with dignity and respect. n Don’t be afraid to share your story. Speak truth. Use it as an opportunity to be a person of positive influence.

(l-r) Scott Knoeb, Candace Owens, John Houchin and Shannan Grove

PHOTO COURTESY OF JOHN HOUCHIN

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Congratulations, Vali Nemetz!

2019 REALTOR® University Graduate

contribution by

VALI NEMETZ JOHN BALFANZ HOMES

O

ver the last two years I have had the privilege of attending REALTOR® University as I pursued my Masters in Business. This is one of the few accredited programs that is directly focused on real estate business and the specific challenges we face.

Over the last couple of years I have enjoyed learning from incredible professors and peers.

The university is staffed by experienced, PhD professors that offer insight and challenge their students to grow and expand their knowledge.

What an incredible experience!

The real estate industry is changing, and while REALTORS® will continue to challenge some of those changes, I believe we should be prepared to adapt as necessary. I do not want to be caught unprepared. Through education, REALTORS® can expand their professionalism and influence in the marketplace. I feel that by having a better understanding of the options buyers and sellers have, I can leverage my services in a way that will remain marketable and desirable. My hope is that these new challenges will elevate our industry to one of higher professionalism and expertise. I will use my REALTOR® University experience and my MBA to further my career. I look

forward to sharing my knowledge with other REALTORS®, along with buyers and sellers.

My MBA program culminated with a graduation during the NAR conference in Washington DC. This was an incredible event that I was able to attend with my family. It was such a privilege to have Linda Jay, Athena Collup, and Jeanne Radsick there to support me. I am so grateful to my local Bakersfield Association’s support and encouragement throughout this entire process. If you are interested in more information about the MBA program at REALTOR® University, please let me know.

Vali Nemetz and her family after the graduation ceremonies

(L-R) Jeanne Radsick, Linda Jay, Vali Nemetz and Athena Collup pose for a snaphot

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A Master’s Degree in What You Know Best

REALTOR® University, helps you differentiate yourself in a way that has never before been possible. Their online Master’s in real estate is not your traditional MBA or even your average MRE. Instead, their curriculum takes it one step further, with courses and concentrations catered specifically to the needs of real estate professionals on a day-to-day basis, and the opportunities available to them.

They are not about what’s happening in corporate America or on Wall Street.

REALTOR® University pays attention to what’s happening in the industry today, and how the market is evolving in the future. And understand that your market is your business, and relocation is not always an option. Which is why their online Master’s in real estate program is available exclusively online, from anywhere in the world.

Earn your Master of Real Estate degree and an NAR designation or certification at the same time.

REALTOR® University has worked with the Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM) and the Women’s Council of REALTORS® (WCR) to make it easier for their students to earn the CPM and PMN designations while earning their Master of Real Estate graduate degree. As a result of earning your MRE, many of the CPM and PMN education requirements are waived. For more information, please contact the REALTOR® University admissions representative at 1-855/786-6546, option 1 or admissions@realtoruonline.net.

KHSD Planning for More High Schools Growth in enrollment and housing has served as a catalyst for expansion

contribution by

JEFF FLORES

TRUSTEE | KERN HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICT

E

very student can learn regardless of circumstance or neighborhood. All students deserve to have the same opportunities to reach their fullest potential.

That is why I ran for the Board of Trustees. I am humbled to serve as a Trustee to the Kern High School District in advancing education, serving our students, parents, and our community.

The Kern High School District (KHSD) is the largest high school district in the state, comprised of 18 comprehensive sites, as well as 8 continuation and career technical sites, for a total of 26 educational facilities. KHSD has an enrollment of 39,000 students and an annual operating budget of $450 million.

Thanks to the generosity of Kern County voters and the support of your association, plans are underway for two to four more high schools, adding to the milieu of educational offerings. Growth in enrollment and housing has served as a catalyst for our expansion, and the REALTORS® have been an integral part of our success.

Thank you to the Bakersfield Association of REALTORS® for your effective advocacy toward home ownership and fostering the realization of the American dream. Our county is home to many great distinctions. There is a local saying that “Kern County feeds the nation, Kern County fuels the nation, and Kern County defends the nation.” This statement captures the essence of our traditional economic pillars given our excellence in agriculture, energy, aerospace, and defense sectors.

College and workforce readiness are essential components to supporting our lead positions in the economy, as well as developing new areas of excellence such as logistics and e-commerce.

Kern is on the right track with the recent announcement of the Amazon fulfillment center, with construction already underway. This project will employ up to 2,000 people near Meadows Field, with millions of dollars in economic impact to Kern County.

The success of our economy is linked to the health of our housing market. Providing a 21st century education to our students is essential to this success. The mission of KHSD is to provide programs and services to allow every student to graduate from high school prepared to succeed in the workplace and at the post-secondary level.

This is why our district is strategically investing in new high schools and a state of the art Career Technical Education Center (CTEC) that will strengthen our existing efforts.

Our new Comprehensive High School #19 will use an entirely new design. Features will include a one story design, a student commons area, a three court gym, and a larger quad with considerably more covered seating for students.

The Center is designed to house approximately 2,100 students with the ability to expand to 2,500 students. We are currently seeking public input on the naming of the school and we anticipate our Board selecting a name at our upcoming June 24th Board meeting.

Additionally, our state of the art Career Technical Education Center (CTEC) will be located next to Independence High School.

The school is under construction with an anticipated opening in August 2020. Our first olympic aquatic center will be located adjacent to the CTEC and will attract local and regional swimming competitions. Approximately 1,250 students will be able to enroll in CTEC programs starting August 2020. The facility will also offer 18 robust career pathway/vocational programs.

To better prepare our students for the future, our career pathway programs will include: 3D Animation, Business Banking & Finance, Computer Networking, Logistics & Distribution, Mobile App Development, Robotics Engineering, and Sports Medicine, to name just a few.

Career technical education is essential to providing our students with the academic and technical skills, knowledge, and training necessary to succeed in future careers. With this shared investment we can build upon our traditional economic pillars, expand in new directions, and ensure a prosperous future for our community.

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Technology is the Key to Brokerage Success Technology won’t replace the agent, but an agent with technology will replace one without it

WARREN DOW | REAL TRENDS

When I first joined my brokerage as the vice president of business development, I had a relatively narrow view of what my responsibilities would look like. I would help generate business for the agents, recruit for the offices, and potentially evaluate, analyze and structure growth and acquisition opportunities.

Coming from the software world, I assumed the title reflected the responsibilities of the position. However, the last year has shown me that no position can live in a bubble—it must work with other positions to share a recipe for success. Technology infrastructure is key to that success.

Traditional leadership positions are no longer as simple to define. Sales managers, recruiters, coaches, trainers, business development, marketing—they all have core responsibilities, but they also have one large common denominator: They have to be comfortable with technology and always thinking about how to leverage it to increase the brokerage’s bottom line.

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NEW ROLES FOR CTO The days of a CTO having the sole responsibility for technology infrastructure is no longer applicable in the real estate world.

All positions are responsible to increase the bottom line. They are all responsible for finding ways the company can use systems and integrate platform data to create a recipe for success that can be replicated from agent to agent within the brand.

York Baur, CEO of MoxiWorks, explained this concept quite eloquently, “The success of a brokerage is directly connected to recruiting and retention and agent productivity is the key to recruiting and retention. If agents are productive, they won’t want to leave, and it will be easier to get other agents to join your company. Productivity is tied to a specific method-ology or system, which is nothing more than documenting, training, and coaching to a specific set of tasks or activities to succeed with your unique value proposition, in your unique market.

Technology must be leveraged to reinforce

those systems with the agents, managers, trainers, and coaches. At the end of the day, the success of a brokerage is directly connected to the company’s ability to leverage technology to reinforce the systems that will help agents sell more real estate.

Leaving the Annual LeadingRE conference recently, I was humbled at the diverse expertise top leaders throughout this industry hold. What’s clear is that they all have comfort with technology and don’t shy away from it. I say this often and will likely say this many more times—technology will never replace the agent, but an agent with technology, will replace one without.

Warren Dow is the VP of Business Development at Peabody & Smith Realty based in New Hampshire. Warren has over a decade of leadership experience in real estate software and services. With a degree in behavioral neuroscience and a back-ground in technology, consumer engagement, and marketing strategy, Warren offers a unique perspective in brokerage efficiencies with a client-first mentality.

This article reprinted with the permission of RealTrends Inc. Copyright 2019

YPN’ers March on State Capitol REALTORS® are a Driving Force in Sacramento for Legislative Day 2019 contribution by

MICHELLE VALVERDE

H

2019 YPN Chair, Performance REALTORS®

n Broker,

Performance REALTORS®

n 2019

YPN Chair

n 2018

YPN Vice Chair

n 2018

Leadership Academy

omeownership matters to us and the livelihood of our business. It is why every year we take a group of REALTORS® and affiliates to gather with 2,500 other REALTORS® from all over the state to march to the capitol and meet with our local legislators. If we want to make an impact in not only our community, but the policies that shape them, we need to continuously remain involved by having a voice about what matters most.

I am excited to say we had approximately 25 new attendees this year with our total group of about 40 professionals, and all the fun begins the moment we get on the bus. We had the opportunity to network on the way up to Sacramento gaining new

relationships as well as reinforcing some current ones.

Legislative Day then begins the following day. As a young leader, I cannot stress how attending legislative day has changed the way I perceive our business and I’m sure those who had recently attended, or have attended in the past, could tell you the same.

Many admirable, seasoned professionals have invested time, money, and effort to our political efforts. It is a phenomenal time to gather and be such a driving force in letting our legislators know about the policies we are either for or against. Our voices are heard at the Capitol and I hope that next year more of you consider attending. As a firsttime attendee, you may qualify to attend this trip at no cost. To find out how you can get involved in YPN or any other upcoming events, feel free to contact me.

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REALTORS BRINGING HOME THE CURE ®

Team Bringing Home the Cure donates $58,520 to American Cancer Society and $19,506 to Kern Cancer Fund. They have raised a total of $309,026 since their launch in 2012.

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Human Body 1 Technology 0 The anatomy of property photography

contribution by

PETER SCHRAVEMADE

BIO: Peter Schravemade is the general manager of BoxBrownie. com. With over 20 years of property sales, management and marketing experience, Peter advises global regulatory bodies about “best practices” in the area of image editing.

You can provide feedback to Peter by emailing. peter@boxbrownie.com

GENERAL MANAGER | BOX BROWNIE

T

he Anatomy of Property Photography The eye is one of the most fascinating body parts in animals and humans, the lack of thought most of us devote to using it each day is surprising. This complex optical receiver is one that auto-regulates the amount of input light and, through an assembly of lenses, adjusts them to focus the incoming light. It converts that light into an image and sends that image via electrical signals to the brain, so we can truly understand what we are viewing.

Personally, I think we as REALTORS® have forgotten, that even with our advanced technology, we do not possess a camera capable of duplicating what an eye does in a single given moment.

Understanding this simple aspect, is the starting point for understanding imagery and image editing when it comes to Real Estate Photography.

Too often in North American property photography I see images like the one below uploaded to an MLS. (Example below)

seller. Professional photographers will capture this image between 3 and 5 times at different exposures (BRACKET 1- 5 shown below).

They will then merge these images together to importantly create an image that will accurately represent what the eye sees on a visual inspection. As pointed out to me by an attendee at NAR Legislative, “to do anything less to

this image, demotes any REALTOR® from property salesperson to a furniture salesperson”.

(CORRECT image shown below) “If you or your photographer are not editing your images before uploading them to your MLS, you are more than likely not acting in the best interests of your Vendor.”

It is also important to note, by extension, if your “professional” photographer is not exposing the exterior detail for internal images, there is a good chance they are not using the above bracketing technique, and arguably are not professionals.

Cameras will capture this scene exactly as you see it in print. Unlike the eye, even our best digital cameras struggle to portray multiple light sources through the capture of a single image.

This is where the very simplest form of image editing is ultimately important. Especially if we are truly going to act in the best interests of the

Bracket 1

Bracket 2

Bracket 3

Bracket 4

Bracket 5 BAKERSFIELD REALTOR® MAGAZINE

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YPN Hits a HOME Run! A BIG THANK YOU TO ALL OF OUR YPN SOFTBALL TEAMS AND SPONSORS! TEAMS: Performance REALTORS®, Infinity Real Estate Services, Coldwell Banker Preferred, REALTORS®, Watson Realty ERA, Cornerstone Mortgage, Keller Williams Realty, Loan Depot, Chicago Title, 661 Realty ,Open Door Real Estate, Placer Title Co. Agentcor Realty GOLD SPONSORS: Loan Depot, American Termite, BMW of Bakersfield SILVER SPONSORS: Agape Mortgage, American Pacific Mortgage BRONZE SPONSORS: Built Right Home Inspection, Cali Building and Home Inspection, Chrysler Jeep, Fidelity National Home Warranty, San Joaquin Valley Mortgage, Barbara Wells, Signature Property Inspections, Inc.

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MENT OURNA ALL T OFTB ER S MB ME

Congratulations Coldwell

Banker Preferred, RLT, the 2019 YPN Softball Champions

MENT OURNA ALL T OFTB ER S MB ME

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THE A TEAM

We have a special group of individuals who form a group of loyal, hard-working Affiliate Members called the A Team, who serve the Association in a variety of ways. To achieve the A Team status, the Affiliates must meet certain criteria that has been established. If you’d like to be part of this special group of Affiliate Members, the A Team, contact Deana Witwer, Affiliate Chair, at 661.377.7777 or Meghan Cooper, staff liaison, at 661.635.2300.

DEANA WITWER, CHAIR Built Right Home Inspection 661.377.7777 deana@BuiltRightHI.com www.cornerstonemortgage.com

SUZI BEATY, VICE-CHAIR Fidelity National Home Warranty 661.477.3906 suzi.beaty@fnf.com

DAN ARDIS San Joaquin Valley Mortgage 661.342.9381 danardis@sjvalleymortgage.com

JEFF AGUILERA RightStart Mortgage 661.578.9259 jaguilera@rightstartmortgage.com

BARBARA BOGNER CalAtlantic Title 661.331.4732 barbara.bogner@calatl.com

JAMIE TRAMMELL At Home Inspections 661.472.0202 jrtrammelljr@yahoo.com

MIKE GEORGE Agape Mortgage 661.324.2427 mikegeorge@agapemtgco.com

SHARI GEORGE Agape Mortgage 661.324.2427 sharigeorge@agapemtgco.com

MARY GUNSOLUS Cali Building & Home Inspection 661.829.5810 calibuildinghomeinspections@gmail.com

LISA HOOK-ESTES RightStart Mortgage 661.301.5472 Lisa4aloan@gmail.com

CHEREYL NUNN Loan Depot 661.270.8601 cnunn@loandepot.com

JANETTE RAMSEY Janette Ramsey Insurance 661.328.9250 janette@jramseyinsurance.com

SARAH SIMMONS Home Warranty of America 661.337.0362 sarah.simmons@hwahomewarranty.com

BARBARA WELLS San Joaquin Valley Mortgage 661.703.2227 bwells@sjvalleymortgage.com

Information on the MLS isn’t to be disseminated

contribution by

JOE NEWTON

The primary purpose of the MLS is to market properties and offer compensation to other broker participants and subscribers in selling a certain property. Sellers of MLS listed properties have not given permission to disseminate the information for any other reason.

This prohibition avoids use of the MLS listings for any other purpose than marketing properties to bona fide prospective purchasers, and to support market evaluations and appraisals for those properties.

MLS rules state that only accurate data be submitted that is factual. It should not be used for marketing or promoting an agent, listing office, or third party services. This keeps the MLS free of promotion and allows members to share information (that you pay to access) with your clients, and discourages clients to contact other agents or decide to leave you for another licensed competitor.

Further, MLS Participants shall not solicit a MLS listing unless such solicitation is consistent with Article 16 of the NAR Code of Ethics and various Standards of Practice. This is intended to protect the sellers from solicitation for the same service of unwanted phone calls, visits, and communications from other agents prior to an expiration or cancellation of that listing.

It also minimizes the chances that sellers may consider cancelling and otherwise breaching a valid listing agreement or the interference with a listing agent’s attempt to market the

JOE NEWTON | Ombudsman property. Competition is encouraged but not the interference of an exclusive representative agreement between an agent and client.

However, this does not limit solicitation of listings under circumstances mentioned in Article 16 of the NAR Code of Ethics or one of the Standard of Practices and ase interpretations.

Article 16 states that “REALTORS® shall not engage in any practice or take any action inconsistent with exclusive representation or exclusive brokerage relationship agreements that other REALTORS® have with their clients.”

Standard of Practice 16-1 says “it is not intended to prohibit aggressive or innovative business practices which are otherwise ethical...” and Standard of Practice 16-2 states it “does not preclude REALTORS® from making general announcements to prospects describing their services and

terms of their availability even though some recipients may have entered into agency agreements or other exclusive relationships with another REALTOR®.”

Unethical solicitations are addressed in SOP 16-2 by saying telephone and personal solicitations are not be the result of information obtained from the MLS or an agency sign placed on property. This is considered targeting listed properties rather than a general distribution which does not target a specific listed property address.

To readers, it is recommended reading the complete Article 16 of the NAR Code of Ethics to better understand the REALTOR’s obligation to not interfere with another REALTOR’S® exclusive representation or exclusive brokerage contractual relationship and their individual client.

2019 OMBUDSMAN REPORT

MARCH - APRIL 2019 186 calls were received by our Ombudsman n

55 calls were grievance/ethic complaints against agents which were resolved n

3 calls were arbitration complaints against agents that were resolved n

3 grievance/ethics packages mailed out to complaining party n

61 calls requesting information on real estate procedures n

n

43 calls requesting information on deposits

n

1 anonymous call

n

18 cases referred to Association mediation

n

2 Tehachapi calls

n

0 Kern River Lake Isabella calls

n

394 Year-to-date total

BAKERSFIELD REALTOR® MAGAZINE

25

Congratulations to Our 2019 Scholarship Recipients The Bakersfield Association of REALTORS® is an advocate of higher education for the children and the youth of our community. To encourage and support the educational endeavors of students in Kern County, the Association formed the Scholarship Trust Fund.

Our 2019 Award Recipients: ZOE CORDOVA,

daughter of Rebecca Cordova, REALTOR®. She is currently attending Ridgeview High School and will be attending CSU Long Beach. Zoe plans to pursue a Biochemistry major which will guide her through the prerequisites needed to eventually go to medial school to fulfill her ultimate goal of becoming a pediatric surgeon.

KIARRA EDWARDS,

daughter of Ginger Edwards; Controller-Officer Administrator, graduated from Bakersfield Christian High School in 2018.

She will be entering her second year at Biola University, majoring in Communication Sciences and Disorders and is eager to become a Speech and Language Pathologist. Kiarra hopes to aid others and the community while living a life that is honorable to God.

SIDNEY FERRIS,

granddaughter of Douglas Ferris, REALTOR®.

She attended Bakersfield Christian High School and will be attending Colorado Christian University. Sidney plans to pursue a global studies major with the hopes of pursuing a career working with a nonprofit Christian organization after graduating.

26

BAKERSFIELD REALTOR® MAGAZINE

TYLER FERRIS,

grandson of Douglas Ferris, REALTOR®. He graduated from Bakersfield Christian High School in 2016 and has been attending Colorado School of Mines. Tyler plans to pursue a mechanical engineering degree.

There are two primary divisions of mechanical engineering, Tyler is pursuing process engineering and mechanical engineering.

KENDRA HILL, 3rd place

winner of the 2009 Bakersfield Association of REALTORS® Fair Housing Arts Contest. Currently attending Stockdale High School, Class of 2019. Kendra’s goal is to obtain a Bachelor of Arts in Graphic Design and a teaching credential. A career with the Walt Disney Animation Studios in order to create animations movies would be a dream come true.

JACOB LUTER,

son of Brook Luter, REALTOR®.

Currently attending Liberty High School, Class of 2019. Jacob will be attending Rocky Mountain College in order to obtain an aviation degree.

Jacob’s goal is to become a senior captain for a big airline and to also become a real estate agent and property manager.

DAKOTA OCHOA, son

of Lori Ochoa, REALTOR®. He is currently attending Liberty High School and will be attending CSU Chico. Dakota will be pursuing a degree in Business Administration with a minor in Finance.

He plans on living in Bakersfield and contributing to our local community.

JUSTIN OLIVER,

Son of Kevin Oliver, REALTOR®. He is a Stockdale High School Graduate and has been attending CSU Bakersfield. Justin is pursuing a Major in Business Administration – Finance. Justin’s goal is to be a future real estate agent and to one day take over the family business.

JONATHAN ORTIZ, REALTOR®

and son of Carlos and Gloria Ortiz, REALTORS®.

He is a Garces Memorial High School graduate.

Jonathan is currently attending CSU Bakersfield in pursuit of his Business and Finance degree and working full time in real estate.

His goals are to become a Commercial and Residential REALTOR® specialist within the family owned business.

ISHA REDDY,

Daughter of Virkram Reddy, REALTOR®. She is currently attending Stockdale High School and has been accepted to CSU Berkeley, College of Letter and Science.

Isha has completed baking classes and hopes to follow her dreams in baking while combatting socioeconomic inequality.

AZIAH WILSON,

2018 Boys and Girls Club Intern for the Bakersfield Association of REALTORS®. She is currently attending Independence High school, Class of 2019. Aziah will be attending CSU Bakersfield in pursuit of a Bachelor of Science in Nursing. At the age of 17, she has already obtained a Nursing Assistant Certification.

The Key to Making Successful Tech Decisions It’s amazing how simple some concepts appear but how complicated they are in practice.

Here are some observations on how decision making at the brokerage level can improve.

BY WARREN DOW | REAL TRENDS

Who’s the decision maker? Ultimately, the broker-owner is the final decision maker at 99 percent of brokerages. But, the size of a brokerage has an impact on how much involvement the broker-owner has in the due diligence and analysis of whether they should say “yes” or “no.”

A smaller brokerage, generally up to 15 or 20 agents, may only have a single administrator and their agents. This would leave the broker-owner involved in nearly every step of the decision-making process. On the other hand, a medium-sized brokerage, between 20 to 50 agents, will start hiring management and administrative positions.

The management team could be dedicated to a specific function, like accounting, or they could have more open-ended positions that touch many different aspects of the business, such as business development. Finally, a large brokerage, generally over 50 agents, will start hiring dedicated positions for each management function. In most brokerages, decisions usually pass through the appropriate channels before reaching the broker-owners

desk for a final decision.

USER ADOPTION IS THE KEY More importantly, user adoption is the key to a successful decision. Management should be asking the key questions: Will my agents and staff use this? If so, how many of them? The only way to get the answer to these questions is to make sure stakeholders, such as agents and staff, are brought in to give their feedback. Not only will this information be useful in making the final decision, but if the brokerage decides to move forward with the solution, the agents and staff are much more receptive to using it because they were part of the decision-making process.

As an example, in my role as vice president of business development, I’ve been tasked with moving all agent-focused services to the cloud from a dedicated remote desktop server environment. Within a few weeks, I knew which vendors I wanted to work with.

I hadn’t had time to have one-on-one meetings with all the firm’s agents and staff.

I had a decision to make. Do I present my proposal to my broker-owner without stakeholder feedback? Or, do I delay my goal

and the job I’d been tasked with to ensure a successful migration? I ended up calling a good friend and former business partner, Alex Camelio, for his take, and he said, “Your agents being a part of the decision is just as important as the decision itself.” I took his advice, and it’s made all the difference.

You can have the best system in the world, but if no one is using it, it doesn’t make a bit of difference.

My advice to vendors: Help your decisionmakers present your product and services to their teams; give them the assets to bring everyone into the process. To other brokerages, make your agents a part of the process; otherwise, the success of your decisions are just a roll of the dice.

Warren Dow is the VP of Business Development at Peabody & Smith Realty based in New Hampshire. Warren has over a decade of leadership experience in real estate software and services. With a degree in behavioral neuroscience and a background in technology, consumer engagement, and marketing strategy, Warren offers a unique perspective in brokerage efficiencies with a client-first mentality.

This article reprinted with the permission of RealTrends Inc. Copyright 2019

Officers & Directors Running in Our

2019 ELECTION

2019 AWARD

Scott Knoeb

2020 President Elect

Anna Albiar

2020 Vice President

Wayland Louie

2020 Secretary Treasurer

VOTING ENDS JUNE 14

NOMINATIONS

Take a moment to nominate one of your colleagues.

It’s a time-honored tradition of recognizing members of our Association for their exemplary service to our Association, profession and community.

OUR 2018 AWARD RECIPIENTS

Michelle Valverde 2020 Director

Nik Boone 2020 Director

Ryan Dobbs 2020 Director

2020 LEADERSHIP

(President and Directors below have already been voted in and will continue to serve)

Bill Redmond

REALTOR® of the Year

Ronda Newport

Salesperson of the Year

Shari George

Affiliate of the Year

OUR 2018 RISING STARS

Ronda Newport 2020 President

Athena Collup

Immediate Past President

Michele Cooper 2019-2021 Director

Nelson Cantu

Performance REALTORS®

Martha Johnson 2019-2021 Director

Glenn Porter

2018-2020 Director

28

Bill Mell

2019-2021 Director

BAKERSFIELD REALTOR® MAGAZINE

Shawnee Edwards Marcom Real Estate

Brian Tuttle

Karin Magar

Kym Plivelich

Watson Realty ERA

2018-2020 Director

Premier Realty

2019-2020 Director

Bobby Chalhoub

Brandy Stiles

Vintage Real Estate

Download the 2019 Nomination forms at bakersfieldrealtor.com/resources/nominations and submit them to claudia@bakersfieldrealtor.org

Return the forms by September 20, 2019

Home Sellers don’t Understand

Real Estate Commissions Many homeowners are misinformed about how much it actually costs to sell a home, according to a new study of prospective home sellers

E

merging technologies and data-driven startups are empowering consumers and fundamentally changing the way they buy and sell properties. What’s more, discount and nontraditional brokerages are challenging the longstanding reign of the traditional realtor model.

To get a clearer picture of the evolving role of the real estate agent—and the mindset of home sellers in 2019— St. Louis-based Clever Real Estate recently surveyed 1,000 Americans who indicated they were planning to sell their homes within the next year.

What they found was that the average homeowner remains ill-informed about real estate commissions. The survey found that 45 percent of home sellers didn’t know they were expected to pay the buyer’s agent commission.

The findings echo concerns voiced earlier in the year by the Consumer Federation of America, which called for improvement of disclosure laws, and an outright ban of dual agency.

Tom O’Shaughnessy, author of the report from Clever Real Estate, said the poll showed 37 percent of home sellers would consider dual agency, and 46 percent were unsure. These

types of arrangements are controversial, as dual agents have no clear fiduciary responsibility to either party involved in the sale.

O’Shaughnessy said that despite widespread industry disruption, real estate professionals still have a crucial role to play in the home-selling process—and it’s unlikely that demand for their services is going to go away anytime soon. Most home sellers— even those trying to sell for sale by owner (FSBO)—still need a real estate agent. About 50 percent of respondents said they wouldn’t feel comfortable negotiating with buyers, and about 62 percent wouldn’t feel comfortable finding and completing the necessary paperwork for closing.

Clever’s poll found that many home sellers are on the fence about using a real estate agent, said O’Shaughnessy: 32 percent were unsure if they’d end up using an agent, and 14.5 percent said they were planning to try to sell FSBO. Here are some other takeaways from the study: n Sellers are preparing for a housing market slowdown. Some 65 percent of respondents said they’re willing to wait longer for a better price versus 35 percent of respondents who said their No. 1 goal was to sell as

quickly as possible. n Consumers are almost ready for AI technology in real estate. Approximately 50 percent of respondents said they would be willing to sell their home using an AI platform that finds potential buyers, and 37 percent believe existing AI tech could outperform a human real estate agent. n While many sellers use the internet to find and vet real estate agents, most (50%) said they rely on referrals from friends and family. n According to survey respondents, the most challenging part of selling a home is preparing it for sale (27%), followed by attracting buyers (20%), pricing it correctly (18%), finding a good real estate agent (13.5%), negotiating with buyers (10.7%), and handling all of the paperwork (9.7%) The key takeaway is that many homeowners simply don’t understand all of the costs involved in selling a home. Real estate agents should set realistic expectations at the outset to avoid nasty surprises and difficult conversations further down the line. This is especially true for first time home sellers, who were 53 percent more likely to believe home buyers pay commissions than experienced home sellers.

This article reprinted with the permission of RealTrends Inc. Copyright 2019

BAKERSFIELD REALTOR® MAGAZINE

29

Continued from page 12

Section 8, EVERY residential rental property owner will be effectively forced to enter into a contract with the local housing authority which requires inspections and certain other administrative requirements. Because housing authorities already lack the resources to process applications and inspect properties quickly, units may sit unoccupied for many weeks until all the administrative requirements are met.

Property owners will not be able to recoup that lost income.

Why REALTORS® and C.A.R. are OPPOSING SB 329: n SB

329 forces landlords into binding

contracts. Participating in Section 8 requires that a property owner willingly enter into a contract with a local housing authority.

SB 329 will force landlords into these contracts, even if it is extremely difficult for them to comply with all of the inspections and administrative requirements. n SB 329 doesn’t fix the underlying problems with Section 8. Because housing authorities are understaffed, it can take as long as 60 days before all applications are submitted, inspections are made, and contracts are signed.

During that time, the unit sits vacant at a substantial loss to the property owner. Instead of fixing Section 8 by remedying this and other problems to attract more landlords to

REGISTRATION OPENS JUNE 19, 2019

voluntarily participate in the program, SB 329 creates new mandates. n SB 329 affects all rental property owners, even those with only one rental unit. Section 8 requires property owners to abide by federal regulations that differ from state and local laws. Many property owners, particularly small landlords with only one rental unit, struggle with these complex rules and regulations, which compromise their ability to provide quality housing at reasonable rents. If their one rental unit needs to be kept unoccupied for any amount of time to allow for inspections and other requirements of Section 8, that property owner will be left without muchneeded income while the unit sits vacant.

LET’S DO THIS! Grab your shades (there’s lots of sunshine), hop on the road, and make your way to the City of Angels where REALTORS® from across the state will turn La La Land into REALTOR® Land. REimagine! Los Angeles is where learning takes center stage, insta-worthy experiences are around every corner, and networking magic happens inside and outside the conference doors. Collaborate, get empowered, and dare to be bold with industry leaders who are ready to push you out of your comfort zone. It’s time to take it to the next level. Come see what the hoopLA is all about.

DON’T WAIT… REimagine!

Sept. 25-26, 2019 Pre-Conference Sept. 24, 2019

30

BAKERSFIELD REALTOR® MAGAZINE

SUCCESS

Welcome, New Members!

Your journey as a REALTOR速 has just begun in making a positive impact in the lives of families in our community

new realtors 速 april 2019

Arianna Aguilar, Performance Realtors, Inc; Rigoberto Alvarado, Golden Valley Real Estate; Araceli Boozer, Agentcor Realty; Cody Brown, Coldwell Banker Preferred, RLT; Raye Bugnosen, Keller Williams Realty; Gina Carillo, Agentcor Realty; Alfred M. Coronado, eHomes of Bakersfield; Miguel Cortes Aguilar, Solutions Realty, Inc.; Brenda Eidenshink, Platinum Real Estate, Inc.; Andrew Ferrari, Infinity Real Estate Services; Jason Flores, Miramar International - Panama; Judith Galindo, Golden Valley Real Estate; Erika Garcia, Keller Williams Realty; Shaylie Gilliland, Keller Williams Realty; Dustin Pudiwitr, Miramar International - Calloway; Grant A. Sanders, 661 Realty; Cristela D. Soto, Coldwell Banker Preferred, RLT; Cobi Vanden Berge, Keller Williams Realty; Logan B. Wright, Miramar International - Riverwalk; Nathan Zimmerman, eHomes of Bakersfield; Aram S. Zoraian, Infinity Real Estate Services; Dima E. Shahin, Miramar International - Calloway; Maria De La Luz Robles Carmona, Stratton Davis Realty; Randy Hernandez, Advanced Realty Management Inc; Jessica Charles, Miramar International - Calloway; Ryan A. Litten, Miramar International - Calloway; Samuel X. Macias, Coldwell Banker Preferred; Frank Gonzales; Tri-Unity Realty Inc; Ezequiel Gonzalez Velazquez, Infinity Real Estate Services; Christopher C. Hawkins II, Keller Williams Realty; Kohei Hayashi, Keller Williams Realty; Francisco Hernandez Huerta, Coldwell Banker Preferred, RLT; Brandon Hong, Watson Realty ERA; Moises Jara Villafana, Stratton Davis Realty; Aaron Klassen, Century 21 - Jordan Link & Co; Lane Komaromi, Keller Williams Realty; Jennie Levinson, Prince Financial Real Estate; Luis Mata, Miramar International-Calloway; Angel Medrano, Stratton Davis Realty; Bashar Nesheiwat, Keller Williams Realty; Shane Proctor, Agentcor Realty

new realtors 速 may 2019

Karina Ayala, Agentcor Realty; Timothy Bowman, Blue Sky Real Estate; Andriane Byrd, Ascend Real Estate; Regillus Camargo, Majestic Palm Realty; Kathleen Clerou, Stockdale Real Estate Group; Corrine Clinton, St. Clair Realty; Sue Digilio, Keller Williams Realty; Hector Gomez, Agentcor Realty; Tiffany Gregorio, Coldwell Banker Preferred, RLT; Neftali Hernandez, Infinity Real Estate Services; Santos Hernandez-Cruz, Golden Valley Real Estate Group; Hilda Jimenez, Century 21 - Jordan Link & Co; Jake Karwoski, Wyrick & Associates Real Estate; LaShay Munoz, Keller Williams Realty; Sanglim Peters, Stratton Davis Realty; Kaycee Saling, El Centro Hispano Realty; Josefina Schminderer, Stratton Davis Realty; Linda Scott, Century 21 - Jordan Link & Co; Tina Seger, Century 21 - Jordan Link & Co; Maria Soberon, Agentcor Realty; Sandra Treto, Golden Valley Real Estate 速Group BAKERSFIELD REALTOR MAGAZINE

31

600 400

state of the

200

HOUSING MARKET 0

ACTIVE

SOLD

Compared to 2019

by MLS Area

March

1,800

1,800

CONTINGENT 2018PENDING

Ran o

1,600

1,600 1,400

1,400

2019

2019

Price

2018

800

800

600

600

Active Conti Sold Total Media Avera

400

400

Baker

200

200

0

0

1,200

2018

1,200

1,000

1,000

ACTIVE

CONTINGENT

MARCH 2019

PENDING

SOLD % Year over Year Change

March

2019

2018

March Contingent 1,800

1,449 March 2019 214

1,633 20182018 273

1,027 1,449 652 214

1,6331,020

All Areas Active

Active

Pending Active

1,600 Sold

Contingent

Contingent Pending Total Volume Closed Pending 1,400

273

1,633 697 273

1,020

-11.3% % Year % Year over Yearover Year 2017 -21.6% Change Change 1,589 0.7% 2.8% -11.3% 243

1,081

12.3%

-6.5% -21.6% -5.6% 2019 0.1% 0.7%

$168,708,707 $168,604,079 1,027 Sold 692 1,020 714 Median Sales Price * $245,000 $230,000 6.5% 2018 Sold 652 $167,830,329 697 $165,430,455 -6.5% Total Volume Closed 1,200 Average DOMClosed *Median Sales 42 Price43 * $230,000 $220,000 2.4% Total Volume $168,708,707 $168,604,079 0.1% Average * Median Sales Price * DOM $245,000 1,000

Average DOM *

800

43

42 $230,000

42

Bakersfield Only Bakersfield Bakersfield Only Bakersfield Only 400

Sold

Sold

March 2019

544

6.5%

1.5% 4.5% -16.0%

2.4%

20182018 570 574

-5.2% -7.6% % Year over Year -1.7% Change $235,000 $223,000 $235,000 6.4% 5.4% 574 -5.2% 617

5.1% S0.5% OLD

* Figures from Single Family Homes Only. Statistics were run on May 6, 2019

$235,000

6.4%

* Single Family Bakersfield uses the following ZipOnly Codes: 93301, 93302, 93303, 93304, Average DOM *Only 41 39 5.1% * Single Family 93305, 93306, 93307, 93308, 93309, 93310, 93311, 93312, 93313, 93314.

* Single Family Only

2018

April April Contingent

1,471 2018 2019 204

1,676 2017 2018 292

Active Pending Active Contingent Sold Contingent

1,676 1,093 1,471 292 693 204

1,611 1,109 1,676 279 647 292

All Areas Active

Pending

April

1,109

1,118

$179,612,321 $158,634,525 1,093639 1,109 629 $245,700 $230,000 693 647 Total Volume Closed $156,710,525 $155,290,973 Average DOMSales * Price *$179,612,321 34 41 Median $232,250 $158,634,525 $230,500 Total Volume Closed Total Volume Closed Pending Sold Median Sales Price * Sold

MedianAverage Sales DOM Price* *

% Year over Year % Year over Year 2017 Change Change

Median Sales Price * Median Sales Price * $250,000 Sold 544 0 Average DOM * 39 46 Average DOMAClosed * 41 39 CTIVE CONTINGENT PENDING Total Volume $143,438,412 $142,745,342

$250,000

2019

Average DOM *

MarchClosed 2019 $142,106,492 2018 $144,563,3960.5% 200Volume Total Volume Closed Total $143,438,412 $142,745,342

Median Sales Price *

April

PENDING

SOLD % Year over Year Change -12.2% % Year over Year Year % Year over Change -30.1% Change 4.0% -1.4% -12.2% 4.7% 7.1% -30.1% -0.8% 13.2% -1.4% 1.6%

6.8% 7.1% 0.9% -17.1% 0.8% 13.2%

41 $245,700

45 $230,000

-8.9% 6.8%

34

41

-17.1%

Bakersfield

600

March

50

-3.1%

ACTIVE2016 CONTINGENT APRIL APRIL 2019

-15.2%

April April

2019 2018

2018 2017

586536

525 542

% Year over Year % Year over Year Change Change

2.1% 8.1% % Year over Year 3.0% 12.5% Change Median Sales Price * $240,000 $236,750 1.4% Median Sales Price * $251,250 $238,600 5.3% Sold 586 542 8.1% Average DOM * 38 41 -7.3% Average DOMClosed * 28 38 -26.3% Total Volume $154,196,621 $137,006,400 12.5%

Sold

Sold

April 2019 2018 Total Volume Closed $154,196,621 $135,442,400 $131,509,650 Total Volume Closed $137,006,400

Median Sales Price * Average DOM *

$251,250

$238,600

5.3%

28

38

-26.3%

Price Active Pendi Sold Total Media Avera

2019 YEAR-TO-DATE STATS Area

Dollar Value

# Sold

Average Sold Price*

% of List Price*

DOM*

2019

2018

2019

2018

2019

2018

2019

2018

2019

2018

10

87

98

$17,380,304

$17,316,899

$204,772

$183,889

43

46

98.03

97.27

21

47

69

$5,654,475

$7,330,041

$120,465

$117,046

47

35

97.28

97.43

22

63

64

$13,691,940

$10,912,170

$217,332

$174,519

31

31

99.26

98.16

23

8

14

$2,966,000

$2,927,900

$370,750

$209,136

35

45

94.92

99.77

31

85

81

$13,366,787

$12,854,477

$157,474

$158,697

32

56

97.34

98.10

32

168

192

$31,997,697

$35,361,149

$206,477

$200,851

42

39

98.08

98.95

33

73

62

$17,357,699

$14,835,335

$258,565

$248,368

54

49

98.05

98.29

34

29

29

$9,564,900

$10,067,200

$329,824

$347,145

55

80

97.43

96.34

41

50

44

$7,854,724

$5,888,000

$159,734

$136,163

33

42

98.10

99.23

42

37

31

$6,834,550

$5,807,900

$186,816

$191,263

47

36

96.38

97.67

43

4

7

$911,950

$977,900

$227,988

$146,317

36

26

94.03

90.71

51

162

182

$27,051,493

$28,983,792

$179,431

$168,797

31

38

98.47

98.64

52

388

422

$89,914,755

$95,781,745

$244,993

$242,948

36

35

98.99

98.73

53

224

272

$74,375,076

$89,557,245

$337,176

$331,333

33

47

98.51

98.27

54

6

3

$2,482,808

$1,002,000

$413,801

$334,000

65

24

99.06

97.61

61

71

65

$21,560,122

$19,281,300

$301,601

$296,635

37

37

99.54

98.74

62

317

290

$98,230,850

$89,680,746

$311,598

$309,244

39

41

98.69

98.57

63

150

134

$60,191,815

$53,108,152

$405,627

$400,014

41

43

98.64

98.09

64

5

5

$1,941,000

$1,922,395

$388,200

$429,349

53

134

98.92

94.70

65

2

8

$606,600

$2,548,644

$321,200

$318,581

23

41

97.63

99.34

80

73

81

$23,766,195

$21,706,040

$334,525

$278,705

80

71

97.57

97.77

81

5

13

$968,000

$3,844,000

$193,600

$323,091

260

199

95.15

87.54

82

6

11

$1,070,500

$1,198,675

$155,000

$148,454

205

138

92.48

92.83

83

7

11

$1,697,550

$1,439,301

$242,507

$138,700

64

51

104.50

98.53

84

2

2

$1,350,000

$845,000

$675,000

$465,000

169

47

96.84

95.88

85

6

6

$2,210,400

$1,688,000

$419,680

$271,600

132

91

94.99

95.90

91

21

13

$3,419,500

$1,781,400

$162,833

$149,582

37

66

96.30

96.83

92

1

0

$645,000

$0

$645,000

$0

186

0

97.88

0.00

93

1

1

$187,000

$187,000

$187,000

$187,000

21

12

96.39

106.86

94

6

1

$1,284,500

$140,000

$254,875

$140,000

10

29

101.30

93.65

95

58

70

$13,606,270

$14,743,750

$233,695

$210,625

50

48

97.86

98.30

96

76

69

$7,859,315

$7,790,949

$104,921

$116,517

47

43

96.75

97.61

98

60

69

$12,407,950

$14,094,200

$206,799

$204,264

38

47

96.56

97.62

99

64

64

$20,292,392

$14,848,449

$325,735

$232,814

58

51

97.17

96.81

* Figures from Single Family Homes Only. Statistics were run on May 6, 2019

BAKERSFIELD REALTOR® MAGAZINE

33

More Private Flood Insurance Competition?

As Congress continues to debate comprehensive reform of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), federal banking regulators have published a final joint regulation allowing for broader acceptance of private flood insurance policies.

SUE JOHNSON | Strategic Alliance Consultant

The National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 made federally subsidized flood insurance available through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) to cover gaps left by the withdrawal by private insurers from the flood insurance market. The Flood Disaster Protection Act of 1973 required property owners in Special Flood Hazard Areas to purchase flood insurance when purchasing a mortgage originated, guaranteed, or purchased by a federal agency, federally-regulated lender, or Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac. RENEWED INTEREST

BY PRIVATE INSURERS In recent years, private insurers have expressed renewed interest in providing flood coverage, due to advances in flood risk quantification and increases in capital market capacities.

However, few private insurers can compete with the NFIP, which offers cheap subsidized rates but has had to borrow $30 billion from the government to pay for its claims from flood disasters like Katrina, Sandy, and Harvey.

Private insurers currently are estimated to issue only 3.5 percent to 4.5 percent of all U.S. residential flood policies.

In an effort to enhance private flood insurance competition, Congress passed the 2012 Biggert-Waters Act, which require that federally regulated lenders accept private flood insurance as defined in the Act. On February 12, federal banking regulators (the OCC, the Federal Reserve Board, the FDIC, the Farm Credit Administration, and the National Credit Union Administration) published a joint proposed rule to implement this law.

Here are some of the Rule’s highlights:

WHICH PRIVATE FLOOD INSURANCE POLICIES MUST BE ACCEPTED Federally regulated lenders must accept private flood insurance policies providing coverage that is “at least as broad” as the coverage provided under a Standard Flood Insurance policy (SFIP) issued under the NFIP for the same type of property, including when considering deductibles, exclusions, and conditions offered by the insurer.

Some commenters on the proposed rule asked whether policies with anti-concurrent causation clauses would be considered “at least as broad” as an SFIP, meaning that they qualify as “private flood insurance” that must be accepted by lenders. Anti-concurrent causation clauses provide that if a loss is caused by two perils (such as wind and flooding), one of which is excluded and one of which is covered, the loss is not covered. The regulators responded that the SFIP includes what is effectively an anti-concurrent clause and that as long as the private policy’s anti-concurrent causation clause excludes losses to not a greater degree than an SFIP that it qualifies as a private insurance policy.

A STREAMLINED PROCESS To assist smaller lenders that often were confused by the statutory definition of private flood insurance, the Rule provides for a “streamlined compliance aid provision” that allows lenders to determine, without further review, that a policy meets the definition if the policy (or an endorsement) contains the following language: “This policy meets the definition of private flood insurance contained in 42 U.S.C. 4012a(b)(7) and the corresponding regulation.”

DISCRETIONARY ACCEPTANCE OF PRIVATE INSURANCE OUTSIDE THE STATUTORY DEFINITION Significantly, the Rule has a discretionary acceptance provision

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that allows lenders to accept policies that don’t meet the strict statutory definition of private flood insurance, so long as they provide sufficient protection for a designated loan, are consistent with general safety and soundness principles, and the lender documents its conclusion regarding the sufficiency of the protection in writing.

MUTUAL AID SOCIETY PLANS The Rule also allows lenders to accept, under certain conditions, private flood coverage issued by mutual aid societies, under which members share a common religious, charitable, education or fraternal bond.

CONTINUOUS COVERAGE STILL A CONCERN The Rule does not address the issue of continuous coverage, which the NFIP considers when determining flood insurance rates. Since the NFIP does not officially recognize private flood policies, it considers anyone who leaves the program to purchase a private policy to have had a gap in coverage, which could affect their rates if the homeowner later decides to return to the NFIP. The National Association of Realtors® (NAR) states on its website that it will be following up with the regulators on this and other issues, such as whether surplus lines residential coverage is included.

Enhanced private competition could provide more flexible flood policies, lower costs for some homeowners, and reduce the NFIB’s financial risk after major disasters. This Rule—which takes effect July 1, 2019—is a first step towards expanded lender acceptance of private flood insurance policies, which should be a boost to the growing private flood insurance market.

Sue Johnson is the former executive director of RESPRO, the Real Estate Services Providers Council Inc. She retired in 2015 and is now a strategic alliance consultant.

This article reprinted with the permission of RealTrends Inc. Copyright 2019

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